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Factors to watch African markets Oct. 27, 2017

The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market
moves and political events may affect African markets on Friday.
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GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares gained on Friday as technology shares were
boosted by upbeat earnings from U.S. high-tech giants while
the euro hovered near three-month low against the dollar
after the European Central Bank extended its
stimulus.

WORLD OIL PRICES
Oil prices inched up in early Asian trading on Friday, with
Brent continuing to hover near its highest in 27 months,
buoyed by comments from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince backing
the extension of OPEC-led output cuts.

EMERGING MARKETS
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AFRICA STOCKS
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SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
South Africa’s rand and government bonds remained under
pressure on Thursday in a second day of heavy losses sparked
by a bleak budget outlined by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba
on Wednesday that raised the risk of credit
downgrades.

NIGERIA BONDS
Nigeria has sold a five and 10-year debt at a flat rate of
15 percent at an auction on Wednesday to curtail borrowing
costs as inflation declines, traders said on
Thursday.

NIGERIA BUDGET
Nigeria’s cabinet on Thursday approved a draft 2018 budget
that will now be sent to lawmakers, the minister of budget
and national planning said, as the government seeks to
bolster growth after getting out of its first recession in
25 years.

NIGERIA ECONOMY
Nigerian lawmakers called on the government on Thursday to
declare a state of emergency for the country’s crumbling
roads to tackle decades of infrastructural decay that has
limited economic growth.

NIGERIA SECURITY
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack in
northeast Nigeria that killed eight soldiers and a civilian
and injured five other people on Tuesday, a statement by the
group said on Thursday.

NIGERIA CAMEROON
More than 2,000 people have fled southern Cameroon and
entered Nigeria over the past two weeks, fallout from
renewed oppression of Angolophone Cameroonians in the
predominantly French-speaking country, the United Nations
refugee agency said on Thursday.

KENYA ELECTION
Kenyan opposition supporters skirmished with police and
threw up burning barricades in pockets of the country on
Thursday, seeking to derail President Uhuru Kenyatta’s
likely re-election with a low voter turnout.

GHANA BOND
Bids for an inaugural 6 billion cedi ($1.36 bln) energy bond
being issued by Ghana will close on Friday, a day later than
scheduled, due to high investor interest, transaction
arrangers said on Thursday.

ZAMBIA INFLATION
Zambia’s annual consumer inflation slowed to 6.4 percent in
October from 6.6 percent in September, as price for both
food and non food items fell, official data showed on
Thursday.

UGANDA MARKETS
The Ugandan shilling held steady on Thursday as the
market reacted to the central bank mop-ups of excess
liquidity from the money market.

UGANDA OIL
The design of a planned $3.5 billion pipeline to pump
Ugandan oil through Tanzania for export will be completed
this year and will avoid the ecologically sensitive
Serengeti National Park, a top Ugandan government official
said.

SOMALIA VIOLENCE
Somalia’s Islamist group al Shabaab on Thursday publicly
stoned a woman to death in a town in the south for cheating
on her husband, an official told Reuters.

ETHIOPIA VIOLENCE
At least five people were killed in a town in Ethiopia’s
restive Oromiya region on Thursday after police opened fire
during a protest, witnesses said.

ETHIOPIA GRAINS
The lowest offer in the tender from the Ethiopian government
to buy 400,000 tonnes of wheat which closed this week is
$299.06 a tonne carriage and insurance paid (CIP), European
traders said on Thursday.

NIGER USA
Democratic U.S. lawmakers called on Thursday for public
hearings on an attack in Niger that killed four U.S.
soldiers, saying there were still many unanswered questions
about the ambush despite receiving more information from the
Pentagon.

CONGO USA
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was moved
to tears on Thursday after visiting a nearly decade-old camp
for Congolese displaced by violence in the country’s east,
and insisted there has to be a way to hold “safe and fair
elections.”

GUINEA MINING
One of Guinea’s largest bauxite mines will begin producing 5
million tonnes per year in 2019, the mines ministry said on
Thursday, boosting the West African country’s efforts to
treble output by 2020.

MALI SECURITY
Three United Nations soldiers were killed and two others
wounded by an explosive device as they were escorting a
convoy in northern Mali on Thursday, the peacekeeping
mission in the West African nation said.

MALI FRANCE
The French military has targeted Islamist militants in
northern Mali near the border with Algeria and took 15
militants “out of action”, an armed forces spokesman said on
Thursday.

CHAD DEBT
Chad has hired Rothschild & Co to advise it on restructuring
its external debt, namely a more than $1 billion loan from
oil trader Glencore, four sources familiar with the matter
said.

LIBERIA ELECTION
Former Liberian warlord Prince Johnson has endorsed George
Weah for president before a Nov. 7 run-off vote between the
former soccer star and Vice President Joseph
Boakai.

TANZANIA TELECOM
Vodacom Tanzania Plc , majority owned by South
Africa’s Vodacom Group VODJ.J, has sold its stake in a local
unit of Helios Towers Africa for $58.5 million.

ANGOLA MALI
Angola’s Central Bank said on Thursday that it has signed
agreements with the International Monetary Fund to be
provided with technical assistance to strengthen its banking
supervision, the prevention of money laundering and the
illegal financing of militant groups.

SIERRA LEONE HYDROCARBONS
Sierra Leone will hold its fourth licensing round for
hydrocarbon exploration from January 25 to May 31, a top
official said on Thursday.